The Five Do’s and Dont's of Appliance Cleaning

This is a guest post brought to you by Katherine from Part Select. I found it to be a great resource and am so happy to share it with my readers!

Have to every tried to do a good deed by cleaning out your freezer but ended up causing permanent damage to the liner? Or have you added just a little extra soap to the dishwasher which required a lot of cleaning up later? Cleaning mistakes are a pain and can be costly and time consuming, especially when it comes to appliances.

If you don’t know how to clean appliances properly you can cause irreversible damage and sometimes make them unusable. To avoid some headaches you didn’t even know could happen take a look at these five do’s and don’ts of appliance cleaning we’ve put together.

1. Don’t clean the glass refrigerator shelves while they are in the fridge especially with hot water! Chances are they will crack or shatter.

Do remove the shelves and let them adjust to room temperature and then clean them using warm, soapy water. Rinse well and allow them to dry before putting them back in your fridge.

2. Don’t use chemical cleaners inside your self-clean oven. Residue from chemical cleaners can damage the self-clean oven liner and cause the self-clean feature to stop working properly.

Do take out the oven racks and wipe away any loose crumbs. Manually lock your oven door if necessary (some brands lock themselves once a certain temperature is reached), turn the oven to “clean” and set the timer for 3-5 hours, depending on how dirty the oven is. Once the oven is cool, wipe out the ashes. If there are no ashes left then you’ve run the cycle too long, and if there is a lot of debris left then you should run the cycle longer next time.

3. Don’t use flammable products to clean your ceran-top. Surface units may still be hot even if turned off or dark in color. Some cleaners produce noxious fumes if applied to a hot surface and some may explode if left near a hot burner. Keep the areas surrounding your ceran-top clear from any type of combustible cleaning products during and after use.

Do use a cleaning cream designed for ceran-top appliances. The special cook-top cleaning cream leaves a protective finish on the glass to help prevent scratches and abrasions. After applying the cream and wiping it off, buff with a non-abrasive cloth or pad such as a no scratch scrub sponge. Clean the glass surface after each use, this helps protect the top and makes clean up easier.

4. Don’t remove ice from your freezer with an ice pick or any sharp or pointed object. This is the quickest way to cause permanent damage to the freezer liner.

Do remove all of the contents and place in another freezer or icebox. Set your freezer to defrost. If your freezer doesn’t automatically defrost you may need to unplug or turn your freezer off for a few hours. Use a sponge to wipe away the water as it thaws or let it fall into the drip pan. If you are in a hurry and can’t wait for the freezer to completely defrost, use a flat tool such as a soft spatula to scrape off the ice once it has broken up a little.

5. Don’t substitute regular dish detergent for dishwasher detergent. Liquid detergents will quickly fill your dishwasher and ultimately overflow bubbles onto your floor. If you happen to make the mistake of using regular dish detergent, toss half a cup of oil in your dishwasher and set it to the drain cycle to remove the foam.

Do use “low-suds” products in your dishwasher. They are made specifically for your dishwasher.

This guest post was brought to you by PartSelect.ca, retailer of Refrigerator Parts and your complete online resource for DIY appliance repair.